gingerbread, made with real gingers.

I loooooove the holidays. Have I mentioned that yet?  I haven't posted in ages because I have been busy at work; chaotically crafting in the living room, dining room, garage kitchen. Thanks to my darling roommate for the support and I can happily report that the craft corner is put away and kitchen fully recovered, for now...

This year was a very DIY Christmas.. from ginger bourbon to almond bark, pretty much everything came out of the kitchen. My neighbors were the lucky recipient of delicious vegan sticky gingerbread. I veganized Nigella Lawson's amazing recipe from NPR, and I am delighted to say that it twas a far classier treat than the previously gifted turkey cookies.

Vegan Gingerbread

• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup dark molasses
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 inch chunk of fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1tsp baking soda
• 2 tbls whole flax seed
• 4 tbls plus 2 tsps warm water
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or whatever unsweetened non-dairy milk floats your boat)
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F

Lightly grease 2 medium loaf pans.
Combine oil, corn syrup, molasses and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. **Trick! Spray your measuring cup with cooking oil before you measure out the molasses or corn syrup. that way it pours out quickly and easily, no mess!**
Stir to fully combine. Using a microplane, grate ginger into the mixture. Add remaining spices and stir.
Remove from heat.
Using a coffee grinder, grind the flax seed into a delightful spowdery mess. (yes you can just use ground flax to start off with, but the measuring business gets tricky)

In a very small bowl or 1 cup measuring cup mix together the baking soda and ground flax seed. Slowly add water and whisk mixture together until it gets thick and goopy (about a minute).

Pour mixture and almond milk into the saucepan with other ingredients, stir to fully incorporate.

Add flour in 1/2 cup increments, mixing well after each until all flour is used.

Pour into loaf pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the loaf is firm, but still sticky on top. (it may seem a little underdone, but it continues to cook in the pan after you remove from the oven.
Let cool for about an hour and then cut into slices, but dont attempt to flip it out of the pan. This bread is sticky, but shockingly not too sweet!